Dalits Media Watch
News Updates 07.10.15
Manual scavengers: fresh survey ordered - The Hindu
BSP protests denial of entry to Dalits into temple - The Tribune
Dalit PhD student Krishna: 7/10 for Nitish, 3/10 for Modi - The Catch
Balagopal is a champion of human rights - The Hans India
http://www.thehansindia.com/posts/index/2015-10-08/Balagopal-is-a-champion-of-human-rights-179759
Dalit body to protest against allege fraud by college - The Hindu
772 backlog vacancies to be filled soon - The Hindu
FAIR AND SQUARE - The Pioneer
http://www.dailypioneer.com/vivacity/2015-10-07-105187.html
National SC Commission seeks report from Punjab CS on scholarship scam - Punjab Express
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The Hindu
Manual scavengers: fresh survey ordered
SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT
The chairman of Karnataka State Commission for Safai Karmacharis, Narayan, has ordered a fresh survey to ascertain the total number of manual scavengers in the State, since contradictory figures have emerged from the urban local bodies and the Rural Development and Panchayat Raj Department. He told presspersons here on Tuesday that while the urban local bodies had 320 manual scavengers, the recent survey conducted by RDPR put the number at 5,800.
"According to information available with the commission, there are more than 20,000 manual scavengers."
The Tribune
BSP protests denial of entry to Dalits into temple
Tribune News Service Dehradun, October 7
Agitated BSP activists held a protest at Clock Tower here today after Dalits were alledgedly denied entry into a temple at Gobla village, Kalsi, in Dehradun district.
The agitated activists demanded that the district administration should take immediate steps to stop such practices in the state.
The protesters led by BSP mahanagar president Tausif Khan sat on a dharna near Baba Rao Ambedkar statue, at Clock Tower.
They raised slogans against the district administration and threatened that BSP activists would hold a protest at Kalsi if the administration did not take effective steps to resolve the issue within 24 hours.
They expressed concern at discrimination against Dalits who were not being allowed entry into a temple at Kalsi to offer prayers.
BSP secretary Mayaram Kohli, district president Akashpal, Ramesh Kumar, Anita Balmiki, Usha Devi, Santnam Singh and Ajay Singh took part in the protest.
The Catch
Dalit PhD student Krishna: 7/10 for Nitish, 3/10 for Modi
|8 OCTOBER 2015
The system
· Krishna Kumar has passed through Bihar's entire education system and is now doing his PhD
· He feels the gap between other boards and the Bihar board needs to be narrowed by any means possible
The society
· Krishna is the son of a Dalit farmer, and faces problems in a deeply casteist society
· He wishes for an industrial revolution, which would create jobs without discrimination
More in the story
· Why Krishna rates Nitish higher than Modi
· A very different take on reservations
Catch is, therefore, starting a 'People of Bihar' series, which will daily capture what different impact groups across the state are feeling. This is true insight on the Bihar election: up-close and hyper-personal.
The Dalit PhD student who wants to abolish the Bihar board
Being born to a farmer in Bihar in the 1980s was far from a boon. Be it economic growth or social indices, the state perennially brought up the rear, and it is into these conditions that Krishna Kumar was born.
Worse still, he was born a Dalit, in a part of India where the caste system is still the bane of society.
Despite all these odds, Krishna worked hard to complete his MA in sociology, and is now pursuing a PhD at the Lalit Narayan Mithila University in Darbhanga.
"If one is born in a Dalit family, it means he is born untouchable and destined to suffer. I have learnt to live with that. But suddenly, come election season, the untouchable turns into the one with the Midas touch," Krishna says wistfully.
Krishna, who belongs to the Paswan caste and hails from the Bahadurpur assembly constituency, somehow manages to earn about Rs 3,000 a month by giving tuitions. He lives at the Ambedkar Scheduled Castes Hostel in Darbhanga, where 500 inmates are cramped into a capacity of 350. But he still dreams big.
He wants an industrial revolution in Bihar, which can lead to jobs without discrimination. Here's more from our chat with him.
Having passed through the entire education system of Bihar from the bottom to the top, what do you think needs to change?
If Bihar wants to give its youngsters a bright future, it needs to merge the private (CBSE/ICSE) and Bihar board schools' educational patterns. Right now, there is no comparison between the two, be it in terms of the syllabus, the quality of teachers or the infrastructure.
This huge gap needs to be bridged and, if that isn't possible, it would be better to shut down government educational institutions.
I know it sounds harsh, but if the beginning isn't good, the end will obviously be a disaster. We cannot expect Bihar board students to compete with CBSE board students unless we provide them that quality education.
Which of the alliances do you think would be able to achieve this - Modi's NDA or Lalu and Nitish's grand alliance?
I think Nitish Kumar would do justice to it as he has a vision for Bihar. He has worked a lot in this direction. He has improved the infrastructure, provided scholarships, cycles, mid day meals and free books, so that more and more children get educated.
Krishna's father is a farmer and belongs to the Paswan caste. He is doing his PhD in sociology
On the other hand, Narendra Modi appointed Smriti Irani as HRD minister. She has zero experience in education and there's even a big question mark over her own educational qualifications.
It's a joke that people who don't even have a graduate degree are deciding on our educational policies.
Whom would you rate higher - Nitish or Modi?
For Modi, I can only say that he gives us unrealistic hopes and dreams. He only advertises himself and wears costly suits.
The issue of inflation, black money or religious equality hasn't even been touched by him. His government has failed in tackling these issues.
As far as Nitish is concerned, he has done a lot of work regarding roads, electricity, infrastructure and the crime rate. But he too has failed in some sectors - he managed to get children to school but failed to give them a quality education. So, I will rate Nitish 7/10 and Modi 3/10.
So you will vote for the grand alliance?
No doubt, the mahagathbandhan (grand alliance) is my choice. Lalu was the one who taught us to take pride in 'Kandhe pe gamchha rakhna' (keeping the red cloth on the shoulder). Nitish has paved new avenues for schools, colleges and jobs.
Name the three things you want from the next government.
Bihar needs an industrial revolution, first and foremost. Then, there should be discrimination-free education for all, as well as proper health facilities. If these things are taken care of, nothing can stop Bihar from progressing.
Are you in favour of caste-based reservations?
Yes, I want them but I have a different perspective on them.
We see politicians like Lalu, (Ram Vilas) Paswan and (Jitan Ram) Manjhi run their political businesses for 20-30 years by playing the caste card. I think everyone should get an equal chance - different families from various castes should be given the opportunity to come into positions of power and progress.
Reservation should be in government tenders, so that even the lower castes can flourish in business.
Even in education, our competition is with private school students and the rich, who have the option of taking costly tuitions, which of course we can't afford. That's why we need reservation.
The Hans India
Balagopal is a champion of human rights
http://www.thehansindia.com/posts/index/2015-10-08/Balagopal-is-a-champion-of-human-rights-179759
October 08,2015, 03.55 AM IST | | THE HANS INDIA
It was T S Eliot who began his 'Waste Land' with 'April is the cruellest month.' But for Telugu people it is October in the month of which we lost two great personalities - 'S R Sankaran, a people's IAS Officer' and Dr. K Balagopal, a noted Human Rights activist.
Both of them dedicated their lives for the poorest of the poor. Six years have passed since Dr. Balagopal's death. He was the champion of human rights. He looked at everything from humanistic approach.
He spearheaded the rights movement for over two decades. He struggled throughout his life for the protection of rights of the Dalits and the Adivasis.
Dr. Kandalla Balagopal (1952 – 2009) was a man of principles and practice. Born in Karnataka and educated in Andhra Sri Balagopal joined the Kakatiya University, Warangal as a lecturer in Mathematics after completing his M.Sc from REC, Warangal and Ph.D from KU, Warangal.
He gave up his post-doctoral research in Delhi and came back to Warangal. At Kakatiya University Warangal he was immensely influenced by revolutionary ideas. Gradually he began to study historical, economical and political scenario of the country.
The study of Marxism changed his way of life. From being a brilliant mathematician he turned a full-time rights activist. As a member and the General Secretary of the Civil Liberties Committee for over fifteen years he put the theory into practice.
He was arrested many a time, kidnapped and beaten up. He was left in an unconscious state thinking he was dead at Kothagudem in khammam district. All these actions made him a strong and staunch supporter of human rights.
Dr Balagopal resigned as a lecturer and practised as a lawyer in Hyderabad. He took up the cases of the deprived and the downtrodden. He gave them a new hope of life.
He condemned the encounters and called them government-sponsored murders or extrajudicial killings. Simultaneously he could not endorse the retaliations perpetrated by the left extremists. At this point Dr Balagopal differed with APCLC.
Broken away from the CLC he founded Human Rights Forum. He refined and redefined the rights. Whenever and wherever there was an encounter death or some illegal action, Dr Balagopal would appear there the next day.
Tsundur, Karamchedu, Jagtial, Kothagudem, Adilabad – whatever be the place, Balagopal immediately flew over there, interacted with the victims to do justice to them.
Dr Balagopal expanded his activities. He condemned the state violence as much as he opposed the "red violence." He visited the areas undergoing social turmoil in Jammu and Kashmir, Gujarat, West Bengal, Chhattisgarh, Orissa and what not.
He was a member of many fact-finding committees. He was deeply aggrieved by the Gujarat riots. He was opposed to the Special Economic Zones. He used to travel thousands of miles to know the truth.
He served as a member of the Expert Group on Development Challenges in Extremist Affected Areas, set up by Planning Commission of India in 2008.
As a mathematician, an activist, a lawyer, a literary critic, a prolific writer his brilliance was multi-faceted. His intelligence was par excellence and intellect incomparable. His writings on various issues reveal his 'perspective' and multi-dimensional study.
His articles in the Economic and Political Weekly unveiled his reflections on the various problems the country was facing. He authored many books on the contemporary issues with concrete solutions.
Scholars say that he would have achieved the Nobel Prize had he continued as a mathematician. He gave a new dimension to the civil rights. He strived hard for the protection of civil rights and struggled hard to do justice to the deserved sections of the society.
Emulating his ways and enlivening his goals and aspirations, albeit a tough task, will be a befitting tribute to the noted activist. His contribution to the rights movement would be remembered for ever and it gave a spur and acted as an impetus to the activists in other states.
His absence is conspicuous especially for the poor. Dr Balagopal's simple, ideal and practical life is exemplary for all. In toto we can say he was an extreme rightist and an extreme leftist. He was fifty seven when he breathed his last.
The Hindu
Dalit body to protest against allege fraud by college
SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT
Belagavi Jilla Vividdha Dalit Sanghatanegala Okkuta, including the Karnataka Dalit Sangarsh Samiti, will lay siege to the Shree Siddaprabhu Independent Pre-University Arts and Commerce College in Chikkodi town on Thursday in protest against the fraud committed allegedly by the present management.
The college was established by Bharati Vidyvardhak Sangh, Chikkodi, during 1985-86 and was considered for grant-in-aid by the government during 1989-90.
Announcing the decision to launch an agitation, Okkuta leader Mallesh Chougule, KDSS Chikkodi organiser Rajendra Gasti, Shekhar Prabhat and Basavaraj Dhake said here on Wednesday that the government had approved grant-in-aid to the college considering that that the college was run by the management represented by Schedule Caste and Schedule Tribe (SC/ST) members.
Yet, sometime during 2000-01, a non-SC/ST member belonging to an upper caste fabricated documents and took over the management through fraudulent methods and renewed the recognition in 2004 under his name during 2004-05, they said.
Demanding a CID inquiry into the entire proceedings, they said there were lot of missing links.
A petition was filed before the High Court Bench at Dharwad with a request to appoint an administrator for the college, till the inquiry into the sordid affairs at the management level were completed.
However, the Court was yet to dispose the case and government had not appointed the administrator yet.
The Hindu
772 backlog vacancies to be filled soon
Taking a stern stand on backlog vacancies for the Schedule Castes and the Scheduled Tribes, the State government on Tuesday directed all departments to fill 307 such posts by this month-end and to issue a notification for filling the remaining 465 posts within a month.
A decision to this effect was taken at a meeting of a Cabinet sub-committee comprising various Ministers, including Social Welfare Minister H. Anjaneya.
Mr. Anjaneya, who briefed reporters after the meeting, said the heads of all the departments had been warned of stern action if they failed to stick to the deadline for filling the backlog vacancies. There would be no backlog vacancies after filling these vacancies, the Minister said.
As many as 19,115 backlog vacancies were identified in various departments by the government in 2001. Of them, 15,946 vacancies have been filled so far. Of the remaining 3,169 vacancies, 2,187 have been set aside to be filled in the future owing to non-availability of those posts in the departments concerned. Sick public sector unions have been exempted from filling 210 vacancies.
The Pioneer
FAIR AND SQUARE
http://www.dailypioneer.com/vivacity/2015-10-07-105187.html
Thursday, 08 October 2015 | Pioneer
Minister of Social Justice and Empowerment, Thaawar Chand Gehlot, shares schemes and plans which will benefit senior citizens and also legally protect the rights of transgenders
How do you ensure better legal protection for the rights of the transgender population?
Ministry of Social Justice & Empowerment has been designated as the Nodal Ministry for Transgenders with effect from July 2012. An expert committee was constituted to make an in-depth study of the problems being faced by the transgender community. The committee has submitted its report on 27th January 2014, suggesting various measures to ameliorate the condition of the transgender persons. The concerned Central Ministries and the State UT Governments are being consulted for theft suggestions/views on the recommendations made by the expert committee and also confirm what action can be taken at theft end. On 15th April, 2014, the Supreme Court had, in a Writ Petition number 400/2012 filed by National Legal Services Authority (NLSA), delivered its judgment on the issues of Transgender Persons directing the Central and State Governments to take various steps for the welfare of the transgender community and also to examine the recommendations of the expert committee based on the Legal declaration made in the above said judgment. The expert committee has recommended formulating an Umbrella Scheme for empowerment of the transgender community. Accordingly, the Ministry is considering an Umbrella Scheme for educational, economic and social empowerment of transgender community.
What steps is the Ministry taking to ensure manual scavenging-free India by 2019?
Prohibition of Employment as Manual Scavengers and their Rehabilitation Act, 2013 (MS Act, 2013) intends to, inter alia, achieve its objectives to:
· Eliminate the insanitary latrines.
· Prohibit employment as manual scavengers and hazardous manual cleaning of sewer and septic tanks.
· Survey of manual scavengers and theft rehabilitation, within a time bound manner, and casts various responsibilities on the State/UTs.
States/UTs are responsible for survey and identification of manual scavengers for theft rehabilitation. However, due to slow progress of survey, identification of manual scavengers has not been completed. Ministry of Social Justice & Empowerment has been regularly monitoring the progress of survey through regular interaction with State Governments/UT Administration.
Central Monitoring Committee (CMC), under my Chairmanship has held two meetings on and reviewed the progress of implementation of MS Act, 2013.
A conference was also held with the State Ministries/senior officers of the State Government/UT Administration in charge of the departments of panchayti raj, urban development and scheduled castes welfare to review the progress of implementation of MS Act, 2013. The States/UTs were urged to complete the survey of insanitary latrines and manual scavengers in rural and urban areas on the basis of the census 2011 data relating to insanitary latrines.
A number of States/UTs informed that in the absence of household-wise details of insanitary latrines proper survey for identification of manual scavengers could not be carried out. The office of RGI was requested to provide household-wise details of insanitary latrines to facilitate identification of insanitary latrines and manual scavengers by the local authorities in States/UTs. RGI has informed that under the confidentiality clause of the Census Act, 1948 household data cannot be released/provided. However, RGI has provided village level data which has been shared with the States/fits for accelerating the pace of identification of insanitary latrines and manual scavengers.
The Ministry of Rural Development has released the data of Socio-Economic Caste Census-20l 1 (SECC-201 1) three months ago. As per this data there are 1,80,653 manual scavengers in rural areas. This data is based on the self declaration made by the households. As per the MS Act, 2013 only the manual scavengers identified and listed as per the provisions of the Act are eligible for the rehabilitation benefits specified in the Act. Secretary, (SJE) held a meeting with seven states which as per SECC data have maximum number of manual scavengers and discussed the modalities for verification of SECC data.
Six thousand six hundred and seventy three identified and eligible manual scavengers have been provided onetime cash assistance of `40,000 (total amount of `2,693.2 lacs) under the Self Employment Scheme for Rehabilitation of Manual Scavengers (SRMS). More than 75 per cent of the identified manual scavengers are women In addition, proposals received from West Bengal, Punjab and Uttarakhand for the comprehensive rehabilitation of the identified manual scavengers, which include skill development training with stipend and loans with subsidy for income generating activities have been sanctioned.
How does the Ministry encourage rehabilitation of drug victims?
The Ministry of Social Justice & Empowerment is the nodal ministry for drug demand reduction. It recognises drug abuse as a psycho-socio-medical problem, which can be best handled by adoption of a family/community based approach by active involvement of NGOs/ community based organisations (CBOs). For the purpose of drug demand reduction, the ministry is implementing the scheme of Assistance for Prevention of Alcoholism and Substance (drug) Abuse since 1985-86 through Non-Governmental Organisations.
The scheme of Assistance for the Prevention of Alcoholism and Substance (drugs) Abuse is being implemented for identification, counseling, treatment and rehabilitation of addicts through voluntary and other eligible organisations. Under this scheme, financial assistance is provided to the voluntary organisations and other eligible agencies for selling up/running Integrated Rehabilitation Centre for Addicts (IRCAs),
How do you ensure safety to senior citizens? Is there any scheme that can encourage corporate to build old-age homes?
As per the Seventh Schedule to the Constitution of India, Police and Public Order are state subjects and, as such the primary responsibility of prevention detection, registration, investigation and prosecution of crime including crime against senior Citizens lies with the State/UT Administrations. However, the Union Government attaches highest priority to the matters of security of its citizens and through various schemes and advisories augments the efforts of States/UTs. The Ministry of Home Affairs has issued two detailed advisories to all State Governments advising them to take immediate measures to ensure safety and security and for elimination of all forms of neglect, abuse and violence against old persons through initiatives such as identification of senior citizens, sensitisation of police personnel regarding safety, security of older persons, regular visit of the beat staff; setting up of toll free senior citizen helpline; setting up of senior citizen security cell; verification of domestic helps, drivers et al.
The Government of India announced the National Policy on Older Persons (NPOP) 1999. The Policy envisages State support to ensure financial and food security, healthcare, shelter and other needs of older persons, equitable share in development, protection against abuse and exploitation, and availability of service to improve the quality of their lives.
Subsequently, the Maintenance and Welfare of Parents and Senior Citizens Act were passed in 2007 to ensure need based maintenance for parents and senior citizens and their welfare.
Punjab Express
National SC Commission seeks report from Punjab CS on scholarship scam
October 07, 2015 05:28 PM
Punjab News Express
CHANDIGARH: In response to a petition filed by the National Scheduled Castes Alliance (NSCA) regarding the Scheduled Castes scholarship scam in Punjab, the Chairman of the National Scheduled Castes Commission, Dr PL Punia has decided to investigate the matter. In this connection Dr Punia has asked the chief secretary, Punjab, to send him an action taken report within 15 days.
The petition was filed on October 5 last by the NSCA president Paramjit Singh Kainth. The petition brought to the notice of the SC commission the recent post-matric Scheduled Castes scholarship scam detected in Punjab involving a large number of technical institutions. "The alleged Rs 20 crore scam exposed by newspapers could be merely the tip of the iceberg," the petition had stated. The petition was based on reports that the managements of these technical education institutions were involved in making dummy admissions to claim the scholarship amount. "Suspecting that a much bigger scam could be involved we requested that the commission should look into the matter and investigate the admission process in the last five years. We suspect that this practice may have been going on for many years," wrote Kainth."In the last five years over Rs 1000 crore have been released by the Centre under the SC post-matric scholarship scheme," he added.
"How do we know that the practice of making dummy admissions has not been going on for the last many years. This should be thoroughly investigated. So many dummy admissions had been made at the cost of genuine SC students. The SC and backward classes welfare minister, Gulzar Singh Ranike, should be told to resign as he should be held accountable. The Chief Minister too is morally responsible," said Kainth.
"The institutions named in the SC scholarship scam should be derecognized. The bureaucrats in the SC welfare ministry should be made accountable and Ranike should be asked to resign," demanded Kainth. According to information obtained by the NSCA under the RTI, in 2013-14 the Centre had released under the post-matric scholarship scheme a sum of Rs 281.80 crore. In 2014-15 the amount went up to Rs 370.87 crore.
News monitored AMRESH & AJEET
.Arun Khote
Dalits Media Watch Team
(An initiative of "Peoples Media Advocacy & Resource Centre-PMARC")
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